»Papa, when you left … did you want to come back?« »When I arrived, I thought I’d go back immediately. I had come to make money and then go right back home.« »When did you realise that you wouldn’t be going home for a long time?« »As soon as I arrived and started making some money ... but not enough to return home.«

The 13-year-old Sidi is the eldest son of a Tuareg family that is separated when the father takes off for work in Italy. Not before too long, the father sends for his wife and children. Only Alkassoum, Sidi's little brother, has to stay in Nigeria – with his grandparents, in the desert, tending the family goats and having all the space in the world to play with nature's playthings. Sidi's life, on the other hand, is totally different. He wants to become a journalist. For a start, he uses the camera (which he quickly learns to use under the guidance of director Fabio Caramaschi) to show what separation and change can mean to people. Especially to his little brother who only arrives in Italy after a long wait. Although Alkassoum soon gets used to the new surroundings and to his refound family, he keenly misses his friends and his old home.

BiographyAuthor, photographer, TV producer and film director FABIO CARAMASCHI has also worked as a director/producer of reports about the UN broadcast by CNN en Español, DW TV and the BBC. He has spent years in Africa, studying African languages and traditional cultures. Whether television programme, photo book or documentary film, respect for the subject represented is always a central element of his work. His documentary films Residence Roma and Doing Extra Time have garnered several awards, among them docfest and the Kodak Prize.